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News - Ukraine reports all quiet on the eastern front with Russia yesterday. The main problem now seems to be mines. Putin, bizarrely, disappeared again. Not seen now for 2 days. Despite air crash. More cosmetic surgery?

Weather - A little cloudy this morning, but warmer overnight. +4. Again high near 10 today. Not too bad.

UEN Exclusive. Talking to a friend from Austria yesterday. He says the border area is much quieter now, for whatever reason. On his last trip across, he fell into a police trap. There is a section of road - about 5km long - with a double line down the middle - you can't overtake. The police wait for a foreign car, and then - send out a group of people on motorbikes travelling at about 20 mph in front of you. .... Eventually the car driver gives in and overtakes. Then, the bikers phone up the police, and the police stop the foreign car. The bikers wait behind to collect their share of the payout. My friend was lucky - as when he showed his driving licence he had a Pravi Sektor card in his wallet. And the policeman immediately said - "What is that? " My friend replied, "What is what?" not realising what the policeman was referring too. And then he said - "Oh, yes, we often meet and talk in Kiev"... he had Yarosh's card. The policeman phoned up somebody... and after about two minutes gave my friend his licence back and told him he could go. No fine. Very lucky. But a clever trap set by the police on the border.

http://kriminal.tv/news/zaharchenko-stolknulsssja-s-nereshaemoj-problemoj.htmlDNR holds blackouts for heating.Unfortunately, the author of these lines, like the majority of Ukrainians, including even the politicians certainly can not say who and how LDNR supplies gas and electricity. In Kiev, a few months ago we are not very clearly said that to do so no longer. Moscow boasts that gives the gas directly to the "republic" and billed Ukraine. Kiev said that is not going to pay for them. The separatists are proud teshilis that Russia will provide them ...Especially happy residents of Gorlovka, where heating included not only the first in the "republic", but a few days earlier than in Ukraine. A week later, heating switched off throughout the DNR - there was no gas for the boiler. Alexander Zakharchenko promised to set things right, but somehow did not keep his word. From today local residents of Gorlovka and Donetsk, as well as mayors, it becomes clear that on a flat gas boiler work around the clock at the DNR's still not enough.

7:21http://tyzhden.ua/News/150336In addition, work continues to restore the infrastructure of Donbass.Night in the zone of ATO took place without violations Minsk agreements. The press center ATO.As noted in Svatove military engineers continue to search for explosive objects in the middle part of the RAO and destroy them in designated locations. Already about 700 disposed munitions.Also, work continues to restore the infrastructure of Donbass.Recall, November 1, insurgents struck with heavy machine guns by ATU forces at Pisky. According to volunteers, wounded two Ukrainian military.As you know, October 29 in the evening Svatove ammunition began to explode in the warehouse, resulting explosion damaged 35 apartment buildings, seven private estates. According to available information, killing two people.

7:35http://hronika.info/ukraina/96677-boeviki-dnr-arestovali-esche-odnogo-svoego-ministra.htmlThe representative of a terrorist organization "DNR" Alexander Timofeev, call sign "Tashkent", who calls himself "the Minister of Revenue " of self-proclaimed "Donetsk People's Republic", currently arrested by militants Hronika.info informs with reference to Ukrinform.====Article suggests he will be replaced by Zacharchenko. Giving the leader control over finance.

8:42http://obozrevatel.com/politics/54673-kasparov-obyasnil-pochemu-putin-ostanovilsya-na-donbasse-eto-peredyishka.htmThe current situation in the Donets Basin, where a few months the truce holds, it looks tactical respite from Russian President Vladimir Putin.In an interview with "apostrophe" said Russian opposition leader Garry Kasparov.".... there is no reason to believe that Putin gave up its strategic goal - the destruction of Ukrainian statehood. ", - the politician said....According to him, the further advance of Russian troops in the Donbas would be inevitable due to the full-scale invasion of the Russian army, and hence with very large losses that it was impossible to disguise."This could undermine Putin's lobby in the West, and therefore are totally unacceptable from a political point of view," - explained to Kasparov.====So Kasparov expects further advances by the Russian forces now occupying the eastern fringes of Ukraine.

http://www.russia-direct.org/opinion/implications-ukrainian-elections-russia...Ukraine’s recent elections indicate that external players, including the Kremlin, will find it more challenging to influence the nation’s domestic politics. ...The bloc of the Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko,... in general, confirmed its status as the party in power, although it did not become the undisputed favorite. ..Other members of the parliamentary coalition, to varying degrees, have racked up rather more positive results. Except for the People’s Front Party of the Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, which did not directly participate in the elections, other political forces (Fatherland Party of Yulia Tymoshenko, Self Reliance Party of Andrey Sadoviy, and the Radical Party of Oleg Lyashko) will be well represented in all regional councils of Ukraine....Despite some improvement, the Freedom Party of Oleg Tyagnibok nevertheless did not manage to win in any of the regions of the country.The Opposition Bloc of Yuri Boyko, composed mainly of former members of the Party of Regions, despite the fact that it finished on top in several regions, will not be able to claim sole and complete formation of regional councils in any of the country’s regions. According to the experts, an important outcome of the elections became the reduced likelihood of early parliamentary elections, because none of the parties that could initiate such a process, given the elections results, can now claim sufficient grounds to demand this.====Quite a long article. Not bad at all. Worth a read.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukrainian_local_elections,_2015Election summary[edit]Petro Poroshenko Bloc did well in West and central Ukraine.[28] Fellow coalition partners in the second Yatsenyuk Government Self Reliance and Fatherland performed unconvincing with both gaining about 10 percent of the votes nationwide.[28] (Fourth coalition member People's Front did not take part in the elections.[28]) Former coalition member Radical Party trailed behind Self Reliance and Fatherland.[28]In South and East Ukraine Opposition Bloc gained most votes.[28]In West Ukraine Svoboda improved its performance compared with the 2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election.[28]

http://en.censor.net.ua/news/358783/inflation_in_ukraine_to_hit_46_in_2015_nbu_head_hontareva"Ukraine's annual inflation is expected to jump to 46%, from which 19% are a result of gas and electricity tariff growth, while the rest is the effect of the devaluation," she said.However, head of the National Bank is optimistic about the country's development: "The projected inflation rate for 2016 is 16%. A balanced monetary policy, low commodity prices on world markets, and a slow recovery in consumer demand due to low wages will contribute to this." Source: http://en.censor.net.ua/n358783====Gas and electric have indeed increased this year, but this should work its way out of the system. Projected inflation of 16% seems nearer the mark to me for next year. Imported goods have increased markedly in price. And people mostly avoid them now. Example - I cook with olive oil. A half litre bottle costs about 6 dollars. So when the hryvnia was 8 to a dollar it cost 46 uah. And now about 140. So people use alternatives more.

Nevertheless, we see disinflation trend. In 2016, we reserve the inflation forecast at 16%. This will contribute to balanced monetary policy, lower commodity prices on world markets, the slow recovery in consumer demand due to low wages....====

This interview with Gontareva seems to be the source of the article one up of inflation at 46%. Presumably for the month of September.This, incidentally, on foreign currency loans - Banks restructure foreign currency mortgages. We have collected all the banks and agreed to the restructuring for borrowers with very low incomes for social housing is needed. We NBU prepared a bill is convinced of the necessity and the IMF. If this is the only housing area to 60 square meters (apartments) and 120 square meters (at home), then such a mortgage banks restructure a discount of 50% [write off half the loan]. It is important in this law and that the borrower will be responsible exclusively the subject of mortgage - a mortgage. That is, if he can not repay the loan, then give the bank an apartment and nothing more should be.====

Personal opinion. I would expect inflation now to fall markedly - as long as the UAH remains fairly stable around 22 or 24 to a dollar. More and more people are insulating their apartments on the outside. Cladding. After decades of very very cheap heating, people are realising prices are not going to fall back to Soviet era levels. Also, I have noticed more people using wood as a source of heating. And more people are buying combination wood-gas boilers.

In negotiations with Ukraine, the militants of the so-called "DPR" and "LPR" are trying to steamroll amnesty scenario applied in the early 2000s in Russia against the Chechen insurgents.

Representative of the Ukrainian delegation at the Minsk talks to settle the situation in the Donbas Roman Bezsmertnyi told Censor.NET.

Read more: Terrorists complain of Kyiv's refusal to grant amnesty and hold elections under their scenario

"The Geneva Convention defines the treatment of prisoners and the procedure for their exchange, but in this case the parameters of the conflict must clearly match the notion of war, the aggressor must be defined," Bezsmertnyi said.

According to him, the separatists insisted on the "Chechen scenario", which provided possibility to evade punishment mainly for the Russian military personnel who had committed crimes in the territory of the Chechen Republic in the course of the "restoration of the constitutional order" in 1993-1995 and in the early 2000s.

"We cannot accept this interpretation since the Ukrainian soldiers have been defending their homeland. They performed their duty," Bezsmertnyi said.

According to him, the process of granting amnesty envisaged by the current legislation requires trial, conviction, and verdict, which may be followed by the decision to grant amnesty. However, from the point of view of Kyiv, the Ukrainian servicemen cannot be subjects to such a trial only due to their participation in the anti- terrorist operation. In turn, the militants, who expect the amnesty, have to be judged, since they have violated the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

Journalist Anastasia Stanko wrote on Twitter that Korban was held in the court's inner bailey.

Earlier, the SBU detained Hennadii Korban Oct. 31. Member of the political council of the "Union of Ukrainian Patriots - Ukrop" Borys Filatov said that mass searches were carried out in the premises of the Ukrop party members.

In turn, the Prosecutor General's Office and the Security Service of Ukraine claimed that they had arrested persons, who directly participated in the organized criminal group. The law enforcers called those searches a large-scale operation aimed at elimination of the organized crime group.

Numerous cases of the servicemen’s refusal to take part in the war in the territory of Ukraine have been recorded in the Russian Armed Forces.

Censor.NET reports citing the statement by the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Defense Ministry of Ukraine.

"In particular, the Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation has filed 80 criminal charges under the Article 337 of the Criminal Code (absence at military base or place of service without leave) against the servicemen of the 33rd Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade (Maikop, the Russian Federation) of the 49th Army of the Southern Military District, who refused to serve a tour of duty to Ukraine after undergoing special training at the Kadamovsky range (Oktyabrsky district of the Rostov region)," the statement reads.

It is also noted that the command of the Russian occupation forces strengthens control over the activities of the 2nd Army Corps due to the facts of disobedience and refusal to carry out orders by the commanders of certain detachments of the 6th Separate Motorized Rifle Regiment: "The inspection commission headed by the commander of the 2nd Army Corps arrived to the regiment's place of deployment Oct. 31 to verify the state of affairs in the military base. The commission plans to inspect forward line detachments of the 14th territorial defense battalion deployed near Donetske village."

A new agency, the national Anti-Corruption Bureau, is to take over cases of corruption from the prosecutor general’s office, Pres Poroshenko said, speaking to 3 major TV channels Nov. 1, Ukrinform reports.The ACB was formed according to a transparent selection procedure with the participation from our partners in the USA and EU, Poroshenko said.

The first 70 ACB detectives have been chosen, with another 70 completing their contest.

The ACB will have its prosecutor by Nov. 30 as a result of a national contest. There are 350 candidates for the post, he said.

On Dec. 1, all cases of corruption are to be taken from the PGO. PGO will not deal with any of them any longer, Poroshenko said.

Due to the economic sanctions the axe is hanging over Putin and nationalists or military may take over from the Russian dictator, Anatoly Oksytiuk, chief analyst of the International Center for Perspective Research, writes in his article on Apostrof Oct. 31. “Both scenarios pose large threats and risks for Ukraine. Russia’s military and nationalists cannot understand why Putin stalled in his offensive against Ukraine, the expert says.

“I do not rule out that under the pressure of western sanctions the Putin’s regime will stagger and collapse. If Russian nationalists come to power, Ukraine and all Moscow’s neighbors will face even bigger threats,” he says.

UBO: For those who have difficulty understanding Russia’s current regime, this Paul Goble column that deals with comments made by Moscow journalist Sergey Parkhomenko should be today’s MUST READ. Few words are really needed; the headline above says it all – and is absolutely on target.

By Paul Goble* for “Windows on Eurasia”:

October 31 – For all their blather about the defense of traditional morality, Vladimir Putin and those around him believe they can buy anyone in the pursuit of their goals, a conviction supported by the behavior of some European leaders but one that promotes ever greater irresponsibility by Moscow, according to Sergey Parkhomenko.

On his Ekho Moskvy program, the journalist says that that is why the new revelations about the way in which Moscow corrupted the FIFA process that led to Russia’s selection as host of the World Cup in 2018 is not an isolated incident but a clear indication of how the Kremlin operates in a wide variety of spheres (echo.msk.ru/programs/sut/1649100-echo/).

Having come into possession of enormous sums of money after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia’s new rulers concluded that they were “people who with the help of these unprecedented sums could achieve whatever they wanted” by buying off officials and businessmen abroad.

“They bought the Olympic Games, they bought the World Cup, they bought the highest European officials,” Parkhomenko says. They bought Gerhard Schroeder by having him become a senior employee of Gazprom to the point that many Germans now wonder whether he had been bought and paid for by Moscow even while he was chancellor.

Similar speculations concern former Italian President Silvio Berlusconi and many others in Western governments, businesses, and international bodies like the IOC or FIFA, the journalist continues. Sometimes Kremlin officials had to pay a high price; at other times, a lower one. But Moscow was ready to buy and all too many were ready to sell out.

“All this trade, all this world political commerce,” he continues, had a most negative effect on “the minds of a large number of Russian leaders, including the very highest … They really believed that it is possible to buy absolutely everyone.” And that became the philosophical foundation for “an enormous number of decisions” the Kremlin has taken.

That is because the assumption became fixed in their minds that if they took a decision and it went wrong, they could solve it by spreading about even more money, something they could do because they had it and because so many abroad were ready to take it. For Kremlin leaders, it simply became a question of how much they might have to pay.

That conviction in turn “has given rise to the very greatest political irresponsibility” among the leaders of a nuclear power. They no longer have to think about how others will react before they act but only about how much they will have to spend to buy off these people after they do something.

Moscow’s “purchases” of the Sochi Olympiad and the World Cup were only “training” for much bigger things such as how the Russian authorities would respond after they invaded a neighboring country and annexed part of it to the Russian Federation, Parkhomenko argues. That makes it critically important to investigate the bribes Moscow has offered and those who take them.

A Memorial to the approximately 7 million free Ukrainian farmers and their families, starved to death by Stalin in 1932-33, in a genocide known as Holodomor, will be dedicated Nov 7 near Union Station in Washington DC.

By Andrij Bilyk for Euromaidan Press, Oct 30, 2015:

A Memorial to the approximately 7 million free Ukrainian farmers and their families, starved to death by Stalin in 1932-33, in a genocide known as Holodomor, will be dedicated Nov 7 near Union Station in Washington DC.

In conjunction with this event, the Ukrainian Diaspora, including the Ukrainian World Congress, representing more than 20 million Ukrainians outside Ukraine’s borders, is working to organizing its member counties to create events in their cities and towns across the world, such as marches and candlelight vigils, in advance of the dedication.

The purpose of these actions is to once again bring to the world’s attention, how Russian rulers, from the Tsars to Putin, have been trying over the centuries to dismember Ukraine and punish Ukrainians for their ethnicity.

Holodomor took the lives of 20 percent of Ukraine’s population, mostly farm families, including some 3 million women and children. Until then, Ukraine was known as the breadbasket of Europe.

How ironic that Stalin’s Holodomor struck mostly at those parts of Eastern and Southern Ukraine now under attack by Putin and his henchmen.

Today, with Ukraine again resurging in the world, by invading Ukraine, Russian President Putin is also trying to bring Ukraine to her knees.

Ukraine’s attempted destruction by rulers of Russia, who have also enslaved the people of Russia, is steeped in history.

When in the 18th and 19th Centuries Ukraine experienced a renaissance of its language and culture, The Tsars issued edicts to make teaching Ukrainian history and even to speak in Ukrainian a crime against the Russian State.

The most famous were:

The forcing into exile Ukraine’s most poet, bard and artist, Taras Shevchenko. The sentence to Kazakhstan was for 10 years of to serve in a penal colony, with expressed orders not to write in Ukrainian.

The Valuyev Circular of 1863, and

The EMS Ukase of 1876, both of which made it a crime to exhibit Ukrainian artifacts, or to publish or teach the Ukrainian language.

The Holodomor of 1932-33 later led to the destruction of Ukrainian intellectuals in the late ‘30s and throughout the 1960s and 1970s.

Not least, when it came time in 1988, to celebrate the Millennium of Kyiv-Rus Ukraine (one cannot physically move Kyiv from Ukraine and the word ‘Rus’ has nothing to do with Russia), the Russian-controlled USSR moved the festivities to Moscow, leaving Kyiv in the dark. A brochure published by the Ukrainian-American National Committee asked, Why Cannot Ukraine, the Largest Non-russian nation within the USSR, celebrate the Millennium of its own Christianity?